Computer controlled projection systems generally include a computer system for generating image data in the form of a slide presentation and a projector for projecting the image data onto a projection screen. Typically, the computer controlled projection system is used to allow a presenter to project presentations that were created with the computer system onto a larger screen so that more than one viewer can easily see the presentation. Often, the presenter interacts with the projected image by pointing to notable areas on the projected image with his/her finger, laser pointer, or some other pointing device or instrument.
It is common that if an individual is unable to personally attend and view a slide presentation, they can instead obtain a digital copy of the slides shown at the presentation and view them at a later time on their personal computer system. In this way, they are able to at least obtain the information within the slides. However, later viewing of the slides is lacking in that the slides do not include the additional information that was imparted by the presenter during the presentation, such as the verbal annotations of each slide as well as the interaction of the presenter with each slide. Moreover, the synchronization between each verbal annotation and a corresponding presenter interaction with each slide is also lost when later viewing. For example, during a presentation a speaker often points to an area of interest within a slide while simultaneously providing a verbal annotation relating to the particular area within the slide. This type of information is lost when a viewer is simply provided with a set of slides to view at a later time.
One manner to overcome the above problem is to video-tape the presentation so that the viewer can replay the videotape of the presentation and see the presenter's interaction with the slides and hear the presenter's audio description of the slides while at the same time viewing the slides. However there are several drawbacks with a video-taped presentation. First, video-taped presentations use a relatively large amount of storage and require a relatively large amount of bandwidth to transmit and/or download. Because of this, it can be either difficult or impossible to obtain and view a video-taped presentation in situations in which storage or bandwidth is limited. Secondly, even though a video-taped presentation captures all of the desired elements of the slide presentation (i.e., the slides, the presenter's interaction with the slides, and the presenter's audio) the video-taped slides potentially may not be clear or readable because of resolution limitation of the video recording device or because the presentation is not recorded properly. For instance, during video taping the presenter may accidentally block the line of sight between the video camera and the slides such the slides are not visible or clear within the video-taped presentation. Another disadvantage is that it may be inconvenient to video-tape the slide presentation. In addition, this technique requires an additional person to operate the video equipment. Finally, professional video taping of a presentation requires expensive or specialized production equipment.
An alternative to video taping a presentation is to simply record the presenter's audio during the presentation. In one known technique, portions of the audio are associated with specific slides such that when a slide is replayed, the associated audio is also replayed. Unfortunately, this solution is lacking in that it does not provide the viewer with the presenter's interaction with the slide presentation that may impart additional information.
Hence, what is needed is a means of providing a recording of a real-time slide presentation that incorporates the information imparted by the slides, the presenter's physical interactions with the slides, and the presenter's audio contribution in a synchronous manner so as to produce a coherent replayable recording of the real-time presentation.